Medications and weight gain. I am now the heaviest I have ever been and that includes when I was pregnant with twins. With the help and encouragement from my health professionals I am attempting to fight this uphill battle. Mairead Ashcroft 23/10/15

Struggling with weight gain has been difficult for me over the past three years. Before I began to take Seroquel I carried a healthy weight for 48 years. Over a six month period I piled on 16 kilograms and despite exercising more regularly, drinking no alcohol, soft drink, juice or tea and coffee, my weight has plateaued at 88 kgs. For the first time in my life I am now classed as obese but worse still is the fact that my cholesterol is high and I have a heightened risk of type two Diabetes. This is a dilemma that many face and can be the cause of relapses in mental health due to people choosing to not take their antidepressant medications. With the help of my doctor and pharmacology education I am now attempting to lose some of this unhealthy weight.

I have learned that Seroquel not only increases my appetite but that It also decreases my metabolism. What this means for me personally is that firstly - my body is telling me that I need more food / energy that I actually need and therefore increases my appetite, in particular my cravings for sugar and secondly - my body, infact, needs less energy than it previously required. So this double edged sword can be very difficult to combat. Another oddity in my Seroquel side effect experience, is that my weight gain is following a typical male pattern, meaning that I have put little weight in my legs and bottom, as would be with typical female weight gain, and am now carrying a spare tyre around my belly. According to this article written by Colette Bouchez and reviewed by Dr. Laura J. Martin , if having a mental illness is not difficult enough, "Up to 25% of people who take antidepressants gain weight." Yeah......... I hear you sarcastically groan. I am right with you. I am finding it more difficult to tie my shoes, get up and down from the floor when I play with my grandkids, not to mention the added drain on my pain levels as I suffer from Fibromyalgia. The article that I previously mentioned states, "Right now, the SSRI Paxil is the worst offender -- the antidepressant most likely to cause weight gain, while another SSRI, Zoloft, is the least likely, so that a switch can sometimes make a big difference for some people."  http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/antidepressants-weight-gain This article also points out that sometimes it can be difficult to find a replacement drug that works well enough to quell the symptoms of mental illness. It is important to note that :-             

   "The neurochemistry involved in depression is extremely complex and slightly different for everybody, so while switching drugs may help with the weight gain, you might forfeit some control over depression symptoms." says Sussman.

So my weight loss journey begins and with the help from professionals and cruising the internet for recipes and other ideas, I have worked out a couple of ways to subdue my appetite. I drink water

BEFORE each meal, I snack on diced watermelon and cucumbers (although too much can cause wind), I have replace white potato with sweet potato (yams), I have increased raw green and leafy foods and to fight my hunger at bed time, about 2 hrs after I take my meds at night, I drink a 250 ml low sugar, high protein, chocolate shake. I will let you know how this works for me. I am not expecting an overnight miracle but I am hoping for the best. If you have discovered any great ideas to combat your weight gain due to meds, please feel free to share and good luck. Remember we are more than just out physical health, never compromise your mental health for the sake of vanity.

Live your Bliss

Mairead